"I was forced to go to a positive-thinking seminar. I couldn't stand it, so I went outside to the parking lot and let half the air out of everybody's tires. As they came out I said, 'So, are your tires half-full or half-empty?' " — Adam Christing
Mrs. Dauten and I are remodeling our house. Why? Because the devil appeared in our bedroom one night and gave us the choice of remodeling the house or driving nails into each other's heads for all eternity. We're rethinking our choice.
Meanwhile, my wife is keeping all the contracts, bids and other paperwork in a big vinyl envelope left over from some other transaction, and on it is a company motto, "Attitude Is Everything!" That's what got me thinking — is attitude everything?
We went with some friends to try a new restaurant the other night. We had a server with a wonderful attitude, bright, helpful and chatty without being the uninvited guest at the table. Plus, both the chef and the owner came over to visit with us and share their upbeat-itude. However, it was $200 for four, and I left hungry. What the great attitude accomplished was that we regretted that we'd never be back.
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And we weren't the only ones — the place was packed with people who never returned. No wonder the chef and the owner had time to chat. It made me think of Jerry Seinfeld's "Soup Nazi," and how competence trumps attitude.
A lot of things trump attitude. Think of all the ways you can end this sentence: "The people who work there all had great attitudes, but ———————." Isn't that what business life comes down to, the buts versus the ands?
Say you're in charge of hiring someone to provide a service. Maybe your company is putting on a big party and you've been assigned to hire the musical entertainment. You might be in a position to have your own Battle of the Bands, but in most cases it's going to be based on recommendations, which is a Battle of the Ands. Not Buts, just Ands.
Picture this: You contact someone who knows bands, a local promoter. You toss out to her the idea of hiring a band you heard recently. She says, "Oh, they rock, but they're not the most dependable band in town." That's it — one "but" and they're out.
Then the promoter says she has four she could recommend:
● Band One is solid musically, and is the least expensive.
● Band Two is good, and the most musically creative.
● Band Three is plenty good enough musically, and really gets the crowd into it.
● Band Four is talented and has a wonderful attitude, a joy to work with.
Notice that we start with the assumption of competence; that's an entry requirement. From there, the battle is on — what "and" do you want? Low price? Creative talent? Group involvement? Attitude?
On the other side, it would seem that a service provider, or business of any kind, would want to scoop up as many "ands" as possible. However, get greedy and you discover this paradox of business: two "ands" equal one "but."
Trying to be competent and creative and cheap, not only do you back into credibility issues, you dilute your image. The customer's brain doesn't know into which mental file to slide you. Are you the supplier to go to when cost is the pre-eminent consideration, or when creativity is paramount?
You're stuck in the "pretty good, all around" file, perilously close to the round file.
All of which takes us back to where we started, to "attitude is everything." No. Attitude is one thing. It's the one thing everyone thinks they offer. It's a promise that doesn't answer a question but raises one: OK, they have a good attitude, but are they any good?
Or, in the case of people remodeling a home, the issue comes down to this: "I don't care if you send me Stalin and Mussolini, my only question is, Will they show up?"